Clearing the clutter

This is the message I shared at church a few weeks ago.

I am your hands and feet … these are the words God said to me a few Sundays ago during worship. I should have brought them to the church at the time but I was unsure as I had always taken the other approach that we, the Christians, are God’s hands and feet and not the other way around. So I hesitated while I thought about that and then the opportunity was lost. But God doesn’t give up and he has reminded me of his words often since then.

I am going to bring a few scriptures he has shown me as I have pondered his words and share a brief testimony of how he touches our lives and brings encouragement even in the darkest moments.

The first scripture is from Psalm 37 V4 – Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Then in the same Psalm, Vs 23 – 26 we read: The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.

And finally, Prov 3: 5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

These verses tell me that God is ever present and when we put him first in everything and follow him, he does indeed become our hands and our feet. He directs the steps we take and the service we give through our actions. It’s a subtle difference from us being his hands and feet and I am not sure that I have fully grasped it yet. I do know however, that if we are to reach out to the lost, we will get our feet and hands dirty as we pass through the mess and dust of the world. But if he is our hands and our feet, then we will constantly be cleansed as we journey with him and are transformed into his likeness.

Many of you will be aware that my life has changed this year and I have become the hands and feet – and sometimes the eyes and ears – of my aged parents. My 89 year old dad has gone into permanent rest home care and my 92 year old mother and I have become a blended household ... We have bought a new place together and are still trying to make two homes fit into one almost three months after shifting in together. We have had two garage sales, redistributed bits and pieces among various family members, donated to charities and still I can’t park my car in the garage.

It’s been a challenging journey. We have all had to make sacrifices. Mum and I have had to clear the clutter from our two homes and adjust to living together again – something we haven’t done for more than 40 years. For Dad, his home is now a small room and his belongings are few.

I was visiting Dad one day when I noted that he was doing what appeared to be an inventory of his belongings. He opened each drawer and was checking that all was as it ought to be. That’s there and that’s there, he was saying as he touched his razor, his little radio, his wallet, and his glasses. I realised that he did this most times I visited and felt a moment’s sadness that his life was now condensed into such a tiny space. What an adjustment he has had to make, I thought to myself. Is this what it all comes down to in the end?

I looked around his room and saw the family photos on the wall, and one or two inexpensive trinkets given as gifts and always treasured. There is a hand carved horse pulling a wagon, made by an old friend who has been dead for years, a sand picture and paper weight with dancing dolphins. We have taken Dad other “treasures” to have around him (including his war medals) but they have always been sent back for one reason or another.

Then, as I was putting something away in his drawer, I spotted a small hand held cross just like this one, nestling in the corner nearest his bed. And I realised that Dad now has the greatest treasure of all. This cross - he calls it his comforter - was given to him last year when he was so ill we thought we were going to say goodbye. As he lay in his hospital bed, he held on to that cross and often we would see his hand searching for it when it had fallen from his grasp. To understand the significance of this you need to know that my Dad has avoided churches and anything religious ever since he was a boy. He has always stated that if everyone followed Jesus’ example, the world would be a better place but never went to church until he started accompanying my mother in the last few years – mainly because he didn’t like being by himself at home. More than 25 years ago, I had a dream in which he and my Mum came through my back door with him grinning like a Cheshire cat. Go on, tell Barbara your news, said my mother. And in this dream, he announced “I have decided to follow your God for all the days I have left”. The words were so unusual and not the way my father would normally speak and that vision and what I believe was a promise from God, has never left me. Dad is now nearly 90. He doesn’t have that many days left. I believe God is touching him in a very special way.

For him to accept that little cross is a miracle. Now it goes with him wherever he goes … it’s in his pocket whenever he leaves his room. I often see him patting his pockets just checking on its whereabouts. Now he knows what he values and he wants nothing more. I have never heard him complain or lament about the things he no longer has but he does get anxious if he cannot feel that cross when he seeks it out.

As I have been reflecting on this, God reminded me that we come into this life with nothing and we take nothing with us when we leave. And, although we may leave some material wealth for others to enjoy, the most important legacy we can leave is how we lived our lives. When we are gone, all that remains of us are the memories. And it hit me again that without God we have nothing – everything we gather in the course of a lifetime is temporary and can be gone in an instant. But God is eternal and unchanging. And just as I am now the hands and feet of my parents – doing the things that they can no longer do and watching out for them at all times, so is God being my hands and feet and watching over me – and you.

As the stewards serve the communion this morning, I am going to read Psalm 37. When I have finished, eat and drink together in joyful remembrance of what Christ did for us that day at Calvary.